Beyond a Book's Cover
by Asj Johnson
Summary: A short story about Seto Kaiba and Téa Gardener. I don't know if I can summarize it without giving anything away. It's supposed to be pretty much in character for both of them, and it's rated G.


Beyond a Book's Cover

"Kaiba, that's it!" Joey yelled. He ran after Kaiba, who was now several feet ahead of him. "I'll teach you ta call me names!" Joey said as he reached for Kaiba's shoulder. Joey didn't have enough time to react as Kaiba spun around with a hard upward kick. Joey flew through the air and landed hard against the tile floor.

"Joey!" Yugi cried as he ran over to his friend. Kaiba stared wide-eyed at the unconscious blond who was lying on the floor. He was bleeding.

_'T-The Mutt snuck up on me from behind! He should _know_ not to do that to a person!'_ Kaiba thought.

Tristan gave Kaiba a dirty look as he walked over to Joey.

"Do something, Kaiba," Téa pleaded. She was sitting on the floor, close to Joey's head. Kaiba took a step toward Joey, but hesitated. His cell phone began ringing.

"What is it?" Kaiba demanded as he answered. After a second, he said, "I'll be there in fifteen minutes." Kaiba closed the phone and put it back in a pocket of his school uniform. Everyone glanced up at the tall brunette, surprised that he was going to walk away.

"That jerk..." Tristan whispered, his eyes flashing in anger.

Téa frowned as she watched Kaiba walk down the hall. Everyone but Téa turned their attention back to Joey by this time. She abruptly stood and rushed after Kaiba. She ran in front of him, turned to face him, and outstretched her arms and legs, trying to block his path.

"How can you be so coldhearted?! You're _leaving_, when Joey may need medical attention?! _You_ did this to him!" Téa practically screamed in his face, her eyes, although tearful, showed her rage.

"I'm getting tired of you doing this," Kaiba replied icily. She had done something like this after his duel against Yugi at Pegasus's castle, and again when they were stuck in that virtual world for the second time. "Can't you see that I'm busy?"

"_Sure._ You get a call about your company or something and think it's more important than someone's _life_. There's more to this world than _computers_, Kaiba!" Téa shouted angrily.

That got to Kaiba and he yelled, "I don't have time to listen to your speeches, Gardener! Mokuba was just hit by a car!" Téa didn't resist as Kaiba shoved her out of the way.

**_(scene change)_  
**

Buzzzzz.

Téa sighed as she took her finger off the button. She listened to the birds singing for a few seconds as she waited by the gate. Kaiba really did have a nice house. It was three stories high, and had a huge front yard with rows of blues spruces and some bushes lining the path from the huge double doors to the gate where Téa was now standing. She had changed out of her school uniform and was now wearing a yellow shirt that looked as though it was several sizes too small. She also had on a thin purple jacket and a matching skirt.

"Is Mr. Kaiba expecting you?" a voice asked. Téa had already noticed the small speaker by the button she had pressed earlier, so she wasn't surprised by the voice.

"Well... Not exactly..." she answered.

"Name, please."

"Um... Téa Gardener. See, yesterday at school, I heard about Mokuba's accident and I was wondering if-" She stopped talking when the gate began to open, seemingly by itself. As she walked toward the mansion, she nervously glanced back a few times, wondering if this was really such a good idea. When having reached the front doors, instead of her going inside, Kaiba came out. Téa remembered the black outfit and indigo blue jacket he was now wearing. She couldn't quite recall when she had seen him wearing it before, but she was sure it seemed familiar.

"What now, Gardener?" Kaiba asked, annoyed. "I have things I should be doing." He momentarily glanced behind him, toward the house.

"I wanted to know how Mokuba was doing."

"He's... improved," Kaiba replied, not being able to think of a better word.

"Oh. That's good..." Téa said. She looked downward, toward the ground. "I guess I should be going..." Téa said and turned to leave.

"You're _leaving_, when Mokuba may need some attention? How can you be so coldhearted?"

At those words, Téa spun around, wide-eyed. Téa noticed the smirk on Kaiba's face.

"Are you making fun of me for yesterday?" Téa asked skeptically.

"No. Just inviting you in," Kaiba replied, although the smirk didn't leave his face. Kaiba opened one of the two doors and stepped to the side, letting her enter. "Mokuba's on the third floor, fifth door down." Téa nodded in thanks for the directions. "By the way, how's the Mutt?" Kaiba asked as he closed the door.

**_(the end)_  
**

**Hmm... Well, first off, this is for a contest. For anyone that thinks they may be interested, there will probably be another one held sometime in the future. The contest called for a one-shot about Kaiba and Téa. There's nothing major in there to say that they're actually a couple, but it's pretty close, in my opinion.**

**I was first thinking about doing a story about Téa being rich for a day, like maybe she won a contest or something, and Kaiba doesn't recognize her and they start talking... Something like that, and calling it "Cinderella", but I ran into too many problems for that. I came up with the idea after talking to my dad about me wanting to go back to a big hotel I've been to before, after winning the lottery or something, only this time ordering the fifty dollar meals they have for room service and eating all the stuff in the mini bar and really having fun. But, when that idea for a story didn't work, I just started thinking about Kaiba and Téa's relationship. I mean, she's all the time telling him how awful he is, when he isn't. He just never tells her the truth and lets her believe that he really is that way. So... if he ever did get fed up with how hateful she is, and told her the truth behind his motives, she might end up really liking him.**

**I also tried something a little different at the beginning of this. Two of the classes I have this semester are about television. The rule is generally to have a establishing shot before zooming in on the characters or action. Instead, I started with close ups. At the very beginning I tried to give enough clues for readers to figure out the sitting for themselves. It was somewhat of a quick scene, so it kind'a makes sense that no one talks about the color of the walls and such. Also, most of the detail is unimportant there. The second, and last, scene had an establishing shot after Téa pushes the button. She thinks about the house and everything, which sets up the scene and lets people know where she is.**

**I had a time trying to think of a title for this. I finally decided on "Beyond a Book's Cover", though. Like the saying "don't judge a book by its cover"? Téa's been doing that to Kaiba the whole series, it seems.**

**Well, I guess that's enough of me talking. I don't want this to be longer than the story.**


End file.
